8 things that help me to love my disability

THE BLOG

I know, I know, I keep harping on about how my blog has helped me and how expressing my feelings here helps me to find acceptance, friendships and so much more but I couldn’t write this post without giving it a mention.

Before starting my blog, I wasn’t very open about my vision impairment, I wasn’t completely sure how to express my feelings towards it and I was very much a closed book when anyone would ask me about life with sight loss.

But since establishing My Blurred World, that confusion I felt towards my disability seemed to fade away and I became more confident when speaking about it. 

I realised that I have so much to say and writing all those feelings down also helped me to find more positivity. 

Writing my blog and reading other people’s posts has helped me to love the positive things that my vision impairment brings to my life. 

THE COMMUNITY

Although I’ve always been quite positive about my vision impairment, there have been times when I’ve felt lonely and isolated because of it and when feeling like this, I often didn’t think there was any way of liking my disability, never-mind loving any aspect of it. 

But becoming a part of the sight loss community has provided me with a new found perspective.

Hearing about other people’s stories and experiences and listening to the ways they stay positive towards life with a disability helps me to learn to love a life with sight loss.

MY FRIENDS

My friends all say that they see past my disability, the thought of judging me or treating me differently because of it has never crossed their minds. 

As someone who used to feel like this label defined me, hearing others say that they look past it and don’t give it a second thought feels really special.

That knowledge helps give a sense of normality in a way, knowing that there are people out there who see the person, not the disability. 

My friends are the ones who always manage to brighten up a bad day and they help me to realise the importance of embracing my disability. 

They encourage me to be myself and help me to feel 10x more positive towards my vision impairment and I couldn’t be more grateful to them for that.

MY FAMILY

Just like my friends, my family have always encouraged me to embrace my disability, live life positively and they’ve helped me to realise that I am so much more than my vision impairment. 

They never stopped me from doing all the things that children do, they never wrapped me up in cotton wool, although I’m sure there were times when they wanted to, especially when I’d fly down hill on my bike, but they’ve always encouraged me to go out there and try my hand at whatever it is I want to do and I know I’m incredibly lucky for that. 

They helped me to understand that my disability isn’t all that defines me and that it’s possible to live a life filled with positivity and happiness despite having a vision impairment. 

They continue to help me to love a life with sight loss.

REACTING POSITIVELY: 

Reacting positively to something which is often considered to be very negative might sound like an impossible task and I can’t deny the fact that it has proven incredibly difficult at times.

As I’ve grown up, I’ve realised the impact that even a glimpse of positivity can have. Bringing those positive vibes to the table helps me to tackle a situation which I may have considered to be impossible to overcome previously.

Little do people know that there are quite a few positives to life with sight loss and whilst they can be a little tricky to find sometimes, focusing on them helps me to beat the negativity and realise that there is quite a lot to like or love.

GAINING A LITTLE PERSPECTIVE:

Perspective is a wonderful thing. 

It’s not possible to take control of sight loss but it is possible to take control of how you react to it.

I’ve learned that gaining a little perspective helps me to react positively to my situation and learn to like the life I’ve been given. 

Gaining perspective has been a big part of growing up and adopting patience when it comes to overcoming the challenges that comes hand in hand with my disability.

It’s probably one of the main things that has helped me to realise that a life with sight loss is a life which can be lived positively and it’s helped me to realise that it is possible to love your disability – it’s not always a negative experience. 

REALISING THAT I COULD TAKE IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO HELP OTHERS:

Sharing my story made me realise that I can take it as an opportunity to educate and hopefully help others and, in time, that made me feel a little more love towards my disability.

Realising it was giving me that chance to help others who might be in a similar situation and help them realise that life with a disability isn’t all bad helped me to understand that my vision impairment can be used in a positive way.

If sharing my story and rambling about my experiences with sight loss means that I help just one person, it makes this experience worthwhile for me and I’ve learned to love it because of that.

I love my disability because it has allowed me to meet some incredible people, form friendships, it has given me the opportunity to share my story, create this blog and gain some truly amazing opportunities by doing so, it allows me to hopefully help and educate others and, although it used to make me feel fragile and weak, it has eventually made me stronger and has helped me to learn the best ways of overcoming hurdles and challenges. 

Learning to like your disability is difficult never-mind loving it or feeling completely positive towards it but it won’t be difficult forever. 

Yes, there are things which I love about my disability and there are things which will continue to help me to find that positivity but there are also things which I don’t like and never will.

I can’t gloss over those negatives but I also think it’s incredibly important to highlight the positives

If you’re struggling to feel the love towards your disability right now, or even finding it difficult to like it in any sense of the word, that’s OK. 

Life with a disability is a tough one to adapt to or feel positive towards but I want you to know that you’re not alone and although it can be difficult and you might feel like you’re swimming against the tide at times, it won’t stay that way forever. 

You can get through this.

There are so many people out there who are in the same boat as you and those people will never leave you up the creek without a paddle, they’ll help you to find that love and acceptance, two things which sometimes seem impossible to find but you just have to dig a little deeper. 

Once you find them, hold on tight, they can make the world of difference when things get hard. 

I’d love to know if there are things that help you to love your disability or any other aspect of your life which people often consider to be a negative.

Let’s share the love!

Elin x